Why You Should Know Francis Grimké
Law and Gospel
Francis Grimké, born enslaved on a plantation in South Carolina in 1850, was one of the most remarkable pastor-theologians of American history. He ministered from 1878–1928, mainly in the nation’s capital, and his story is worth knowing.
Though he endured a difficult childhood filled with injustice at the hands of his enslavers, he had a remarkable mother, Nancy Weston, who made great sacrifices for his education and spiritual growth.1 Following the Civil War, he attended Lincoln University, where he graduated as Valedictorian. After briefly considering a career in law and studying at Howard University, the spiritual awakening he began to experience as a college student eventually led him to Princeton Theological Seminary. There, his theological aptitude earned the respect of both Charles Hodge and Benjamin B. Warfield.2 Upon graduation from seminary, he received a call in 1878 to Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, DC, where he served faithfully for the better part of fifty years. That same year, he also married Charlotte Forten of Philadelphia. Her family was well known for their social activism, and her life is another remarkable story also worth knowing.
Perhaps one of the most notable features of Francis Grimké’s ministry relates to his ability to distinguish between the law of God and the gospel of God without separating them. He expressed his views on this matter powerfully in a letter he wrote to the alumni of Princeton Theological, summarizing his many years of ministry:
During these forty years two things I have tried to do with all my might: (1) To preach the gospel of the grace of God, to get men to see their need of a savior, and to accept of Jesus Christ as the way, the truth, the life. If I had to live my life over again I would still choose the ministry, I could not be satisfied in any other calling. (2) I have sought with all my might to fight race prejudice, because I believe it is utterly un-Christian, and that it is doing almost more than anything else to curse our own land and country and the world at large. Christianity, in its teachings, and in the spirit of its founder, stands for the brotherhood of man, calls us to do by others as we would be done by, to love our neighbor as ourselves.3
In these memorable words, Grimké simultaneously distinguished and affirmed the importance of preaching the gospel and fighting race prejudice. He did not treat them as if they were the same thing. Neither did he separate them. This holistic yet differentiated approach to Christian life and ministry is worth knowing.
Grimké on the Christian Life
Drew Martin
Born enslaved, Grimké dedicated his life to preaching the gospel and confronting the injustice of his time. This book presents Grimké’s vision of the Christian life, helping readers address important issues within the church today.
Civil Rights
Grimké’s commitment to fighting race prejudice led him to a prominent role in the early civil rights movement. He was close to the famous abolitionist Frederick Douglass, who frequently attended Fifteenth Street Presbyterian and asked Grimké to officiate his marriage in 18844. In 1893, he co-founded the Afro-American Council to assist Black clergy who were excluded from the networks that came more naturally to White ministers in the denomination. Alongside Booker T. Washington and W. E. B. Du Bois, he was heavily involved with the Hampton Institute, preaching at its inaugural conference and serving as chair of its Committee on Religion and Ethics from 1898 to 1902. He also served as treasurer and on the executive board of the American Negro Academy, founded by Alexander Crummell to promote African American scholarship and advance the fields of literature, science, art, and higher education. Grimké’s long tenure on the Board of Trustees at Howard University led to an offer to become its president—a role he declined in favor of his pastoral duties.5
Most notably, Grimké played a key role in the Niagara Movement and the founding of the NAACP. He, along with Ida B. Wells-Barnett and Du Bois, was one of six African American signers of the call for the Emancipation Conference, which led to the NAACP's creation.6 Although Grimké chose not to take a leadership role in the organization, he arranged for his brother, Archibald, to serve on the founding committee and later as a vice president.7 Throughout his life, Francis Grimké consistently seized opportunities to advocate for civil rights and speak out prophetically. The essential role of theologically conservative Black ministers like Francis Grimké in the early civil rights movement is underappreciated in both academic scholarship and popular histories. This is a story worth knowing.8
While it may be surprising to some, Francis Grimké’s important role in the early civil rights movement did not prevent him from simultaneously championing the “spiritual nature” of the church’s mission. He frequently taught on this topic, and he also practiced what he preached. The title of one of his most widely circulated and commented upon sermons was based upon the Great Commission of Matthew 28 and entitled “Christ’s Program for the Saving the World.” In that sermon he declared that Jesus Christ would build his kingdom by calling people to repentance for their sins and faith in him as the Son of God and savior of sinners. Grimké acknowledged that some people think a ministry centered upon preaching this gospel message is “foolishness” and should be replaced by other “schemes.” However, he boldly declared that salvation does not come through personal obedience, social improvement, or “secular” knowledge, however useful it might be. Salvation can only come by preaching Christ from both the Old and New Testament Scriptures and calling people to personal faith.9
Faithful Ministry
Grimké’s firm commitment to the spiritual nature of the church’s ministry and his theological commitments to traditional Christian views on the nature of Scripture and the person and work of Christ led him to make careful theological distinctions and thoughtful decisions in his personal ministry. He distinguished between preaching the gospel and fighting race prejudice, but he devoted his life to both. He distinguished between sacred and secular knowledge, vocations, and issues, but he did not place them in opposition. He highly valued individual, corporate, and social aspects of Christian life and piety.
Along these lines, he saw the importance of Christian work in the church, in society, and in the state, but he did not confuse or collapse the different spheres. He also distinguished between his personal and public life and his roles as a Christian and as a Christian minister. He did not place these roles in competition, but he did distinguish them. Practically speaking, this meant that he encouraged his brother, an attorney, to serve formally with the NAACP. As a pastor, he believed his primary role was in teaching the word of God. His preaching frequently touched on moral and social issues, but he also warned Christian ministers not to engage in partisan politics by endorsing specific candidates or policies.10 These are complicated subjects, and Grimké’s passionate, thoughtful, careful example is thought provoking and worth knowing.
Francis Grimké’s fifty years of faithful ministry brought hope and light during one of the darkest periods of American history. The post-Reconstruction years of lynching, Jim Crow, race riots, attempts to make interracial marriage illegal, and countless other moral and cultural failures left a toll on the nation, and too often Christians not only failed to fight such moral tragedies but they perpetuated and condoned them.
Grimké was honest about these realities, and he frequently expressed concern regarding the moral trajectory of the nation. Yet he never gave up hope. His hope, however, was not placed on any experience or even expectation of moral progress. Grimké continued his efforts not because he expected immediate social progress but because he believed that God is ultimate. While he saw no grounds for naive optimism, premature claims about the end of racism or other moral evils, or simplistic assertions that the gospel alone could resolve all social issues in the present age, he also saw no reason for pessimism, despair, or dismissing the power of God working through the gospel. As he wrote, there is “no reason to become discouraged, though at times things may look pretty dark.” Instead, “we are hopeful, and will ever be” because “Jesus Christ has set his kingdom up in the world,” and the gates of hell will not prevail against it.11 He was honest and hopeful at the same time, and his story is worth knowing.
Despite his profound impact, Grimké is often overlooked in discussions of American religious and civil rights history. Yet he was a prominent leader in both the church and the early civil rights movement for over fifty years. The neglect of his legacy is noteworthy, especially considering his influential role as a pastor and his vital contributions to the civil rights movement. Grimké’s life highlights the need for a more inclusive recounting of American church history—one that recognizes the crucial role of Black religious leaders in shaping the nation’s spiritual and social fabric. His writings and activism offer valuable insights into the intersection of faith, race, and justice. His story is worth knowing.
Notes:
- Archibald H. Grimké, “A Madonna of the South,” The Southern Workman 29, no. 7 (1900): 392.
- James McCosh to unnamed addressee, October 18, 1879, in The Works of Francis J. Grimké, ed. Carter G. Woodson, 4 vols. (Washington, DC: Associated Publishers, 1942), 1:x; Ethelbert D. Warfield to Francis J. Grimké, December 28, 1922, in Works, 4:357.
- Grimké to the class of 1878 of Princeton Theological Seminary, April 27, 1918, in Works, 4:215.
- Francis J. Grimké, “The Second Marriage of Frederick Douglass,” Journal of Negro History 19, no. 3 (1934): 324-329.
- Henry Justin Ferry, “Francis James Grimké: Portrait of a Black Puritan” (PhD diss., Yale University, 1970), 195, 204, 207, 214-215, 267.
- Drew Martin, Grimké on the Christian Life: Christian Vitality for the Church and World (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 2025), chapter 10.
- Dickson D. Bruce, Archibald Grimké: Portrait of a Black Independent (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1993), 104–105; Mark Perry, Lift Up Thy Voice: The Grimké Family’s Journey from Slaveholders to Civil Rights Leaders (New York: Viking, 2001), 332–333.
- Daniel R. Bare, Black Fundamentalists: Conservative Christianity and Racial Identity in the Segregation Era (New York: New York University Press, 2021); Mary Beth Swetnam Mathews, African American Evangelicals and Fundamentalism between the Wars (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2017).
- Francis J. Grimké, “Christ’s Program for the Saving of the World” (1936), box 40-6, folder 309, Francis J. Grimké Papers, Howard University Library, 1-5. See also Francis J. Grimké, “The Nature and Mission of the Christian Church” (ca. 1889), box 40-8, folder 415, Francis J. Grimké Papers, Howard University Library.
- Grimké, Works, 3:292–95.
- Grimké, Works, 3:330–31.
Drew Martin is the author of Grimké on the Christian Life: Christian Vitality for the Church and World.
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